Overview

• Xin Xin has reached 35 years, far exceeding the typical 20–25-year wild lifespan and nearing the species’ 38-year captive maximum.
• As the last panda born in Mexico, her imminent death will end the Chapultepec lineage that began in the late 1970s and saw no births after 1990.
• A 2012 artificial insemination effort failed to produce offspring, highlighting the challenges of ex situ panda conservation outside China.
• China’s 1984 policy grants it global ownership of pandas and mandates leasing them in ten-year contracts at one million dollars per pair per year.
• Mexico City officials are evaluating a research-driven lease agreement with China that would require a detailed scientific proposal before hosting new pandas.